1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a noodle making apparatus, and more particularly to a rolling mill for rolling a noodle sheet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally as shown in FIG. 7, a noodle making comprises the steps of mixing ingredients in a kneading machine, stacking noodle dough by a single pair of rolls or a series of pairs of rolls so as to form a noodle sheet, rolling the noodle sheet successively to finally obtain a desired thickness, and cutting the rolled noodle sheet into strips. Of all the steps, the rolling step is the most important, wherein dough is degassed and regulated in density, and gluten therein is refined. In this step, extending rolls are arranged vertically in pair. As shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b), a lower smooth columnar roll 62 is formed with flanges 62a on both sides thereof, and an upper smooth roll 61 is formed into such a length as to be fitted between the flanges 62a. The upper roll I is moved up and down by an adjusting screw and is adjusted within the height of the flanges 62a so that a noodle sheet M may be finally reduced to a desired thickness by rolling. FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b) show another construction of the smooth rolls. As shown therein, a pair of upper and lower grooved rolls 63 and 64 includes concavities 65 and convexities 66 of a constant radius formed at regular intervals on the peripheries of the grooved rolls 63 and 64 in the longitudinal direction thereof. The lower grooved roll 64 is formed with flanges 64a on both sides thereof, so that the upper grooved roll 63 may be fitted between the flanges 64a. The gap between rolls 63 and 64 is adjustable. These smooth rolls 61 and 62, or the grooved rolls 63 and 64 are arranged in plural pairs.
When rolled by the rolls 61 and 62, the noodle sheet M is fed flat in an extending longitudinal direction L thereof, with its width W constant but with its thickness t changed, as shown in FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b). Further, FIGS. 11(a), 11(b), and 11(c) show the shape of the noodle sheet M when rolled by a pair of grooved rolls 63 and 64 with its width W constant. In FIG. 11(a), each concavity 65 or each convexity 66 on the opposite rolls 63 and 64 face each other. Thus, the two opposed concavities 65 form a mountain portion 65a with thickness t, and the two opposed convexities 66 form a valley portion 66a with thickness t1, as shown in FIG. 11(a) and 11(b). Here, the cross section of the mountain portion 65a is formed into a substantially circular shape. Thus, a series of mountain portions 65a and the valley portions 66a are fed in the longitudinal direction L. The phase of the groove differs by width W1 between the upper and lower surfaces of the noodle sheet M, so that the noodle sheet M is formed into a substantially bellow-like cross-sectional shape in the transverse direction thereof. In contrast, in FIG. 11(c), the cross section of the noodle sheet M is formed into a substantially wave-like shape, since the phase of the groove differs by width W2, and is fed in the longitudinal direction L. The noodle sheet M rolled by such a single pair of rolls is stacked double and then rolled. This step is repeated several times. Then, the gap between the upper and lower rolls is reduced step by step to finally form the noodle sheet M into the desired thickness.
When rolling the noodle sheet M by the rolls 61 and 62 or the rolls 63 and 64, degassing, density regulating and gluten refining can be effectively performed in the longitudinal direction L. However, during the process of passing through the gap between the rolls 61 and 62 or the rolls 63 and 64 several times, gluten in the noodle sheet M is gradually aligned in the longitudinal direction L, but is not satisfactorily regulated and refined in the transverse direction of the noodle sheet M, thus making it impossible to obtain such a good texture and taste as hand-rolled fine noodles have. That is the reason why the noodles made by a conventional rolling mill cannot be compared with the noodles made by hand.
To solve the above problem, as shown in FIGS. 12(a) and 12(b), a first conveyer 67 is provided to feed the noodle sheet M rolled by a pair of smooth rolls 61 and 62, for instance, at a predetermined angle .theta. into a second conveyer 68 positioned below the end of the first conveyer 67. Two finger bars 69 are disposed between the first and the second conveyers 67 and 68 such that they may swing horizontally at a predetermined angle. When the swinging speed of the finger bars 69 and the feeding speed of the second conveyer 68 are properly regulated, the successively fed noodle sheet M can be folded zigzag to be formed into folded noodle sheet MO with width W'. The folded noodle sheet MO is then rolled so that the difference from hand-rolled noodles is minimized as small as possible. However, the above-mentioned folding operation tends to be cumbersome, thus reducing the efficiency of noodle production.